Haqiqat al-Witr wa Musammahu fi al-Shar - ضمن «Athar al-Muallimi»

Haqiqat al-Witr wa Musammahu fi al-Shar (The Reality of the Witr Prayer and Its Definition in Islamic Law) is a legal treatise by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (1313–1386 AH / 1895–1966 CE) examining the juridical definition, scope, and rulings of the Witr prayer in Islamic law Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.

Background and Composition

Al-Mu'allimi began drafting the work in early Ramadan 1342 AH during his stay in Aden, where he taught and preached for a year after leaving Jizan following the death of Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. The occasion for writing was an inquiry by an acquaintance regarding contested rulings surrounding the Witr prayer, requesting a determination of the preponderant opinion alongside its textual proofs Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. Upon reviewing the relevant proofs, al-Mu'allimi observed that the various issues concerning Witr were intricately connected and resolved to write an independent book encompassing all of its rulings Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.

Al-Mu'allimi outlined a comprehensive plan for the treatise on a single sheet, listing key topics including its obligation, number of units, intention, specific recitations, the requirement of preceding even units, its beginning and ending times, praying on a mount while travelling, making up missed prayers, the qunut supplication and its placement, separating or connecting units, performing it sitting down, and its relative virtue compared to other voluntary prayers Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. However, only a portion of these planned topics was completed in his surviving drafts Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.

Contents and Method

The extant text focuses on establishing the legal reality (haqiqah) of Witr in prophetic practice Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. Through an inductive survey of hadiths and early reports, al-Mu'allimi identified three distinct meanings for the term Witr in the Sunnah:

1. The night prayer in its entirety—up to thirteen rak'ahs—whether prayed consecutively or separated by greetings Haqiqat al-Witr wa Musamm….
2. The single odd rak'ah, whether joined or separated Haqiqat al-Witr wa Musamm….
3. Any odd set of units prayed with a single final greeting (taslimah), whether one, three, five, seven, or nine rak'ahs, which he noted was the classification adopted by compiler authors of the Sunan collections, particularly al-Nasa'i Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y….

Al-Mu'allimi examined the hadith stating: صلاة الليل مثنى مثنى، والوتر ركعة من آخر الليل ("The night prayer is in pairs of two, and the Witr is one rak'ah at the end of the night"), arguing that it does not imply exclusivity (hasr), since contextual proofs establish that the Prophet ﷺ also joined three, five, seven, and nine rak'ahs Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. He reviewed the position of al-Shafi'i in Kitab al-Umm that Witr consists of a single unit, alongside the positions of Malik ibn Anas and Abu Hanifa as cited from Abu al-Walid al-Baji and Ibn Rushd Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1. Critiquing the Shafi'i arguments for limiting Witr to a standalone single rak'ah, he concluded that applying the name Witr to a single rak'ah is restricted to cases where it is preceded by even units (shaf'), rather than performed entirely in isolation Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y….

Manuscript and Publication

The work survived as an autograph draft in the Makkah Grand Mosque Library (MS 4245), consisting of 25 unorganized folios written at different times, as evidenced by variations in handwriting, paper, and recurring introductory remarks Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…. The text was edited by Muhammad Uzair Shams and published as the eighth treatise within the collection of al-Mu'allimi's legal treatises (Majmu' Rasa'il al-Fiqh), forming part of volume 16 of the compiled edition Athar al-Mu'allimi Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Y…+1.